Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas Launches Pediatric Partnership
The Good Health Club Physician ToolkitSM is Newest Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Effort to Curb the Rise in Diabetes.
Richardson, TX – Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) has launched the Good Health Club Physician ToolkitSM—unique educational materials designed to foster better communication between pediatricians and their patients on childhood obesity and diabetes prevention. The program was launched in collaboration with the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and Blue companies nationwide. The toolkit, available in both English and Spanish, will be available to pediatricians in Texas in time for back-to-school physician visits prior to the 2010-2011 school-year.
In November 2009, a Toolkit pilot program was launched which included 1,600 pediatricians and family physician practices in Texas, New Mexico, Mississippi, North Carolina, Alabama and Missouri. These pediatricians distributed the tool kits to parents and patients. In a follow-up survey, 79 percent of the pediatricians said the tool kits were effective and 72 percent provided educational materials to patients at least a few times per week, an increase of 28 percent over other available materials.
"The Good Health Club Physician Toolkit is aimed directly at taking the effort against childhood obesity and diabetes prevention to a new level," says Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, vice president and chief medical officer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. "This innovative tool supports physicians’ efforts to encourage and enable patients and their parents to adopt behaviors that improve health and at the same time reduce obesity and prevent diabetes among Texas youth."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the last two decades type 2 diabetes (formerly known as adult-onset diabetes) has been reported among U.S. children and adolescents with increasing frequency. One in three U.S. children born in 2000 could develop diabetes during their lifetime and the prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 to 11 more than doubled in the past 20 years, going from 6.5 percent in 1980 to 17 percent in 2006.
The Good Health Club Physician Toolkit features messages from the "Good Health Club," a group of animal characters that encourages children to:
- Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every day
- Limit screen time to 2 hours or less
- Get at least 1 hour of physical activity
- Limit sweetened drinks to 0.
The toolkit, developed in consultation with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), also builds on materials that Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies have successfully used across the country to encourage healthy choices and behaviors for children. To view the Good Health Club Physician Toolkit (which contains tip sheets, wall posters, physician reference materials, tracking sheets, and brochures with educational information) and for more information about what the Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies are doing in their communities to combat childhood obesity and diabetes, please visit www.bcbs.com/goodhealthclub
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas -- the only statewide, customer-owned health insurer in Texas – is the largest provider of health benefits in the state, working with nearly 40,000 physicians and 400 hospitals to serve 4.5 million members in all 254 counties. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas is a Division of Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the country’s largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall. HCSC is a Mutual Legal Reserve Company and an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
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For More Information Contact:
- News Media Contact: margaret_jarvis@bcbstx.com, (972) 766-7165
- Corporate Headquarters: (972) 766-6900
